Painted Nail Opening Results In Unexpected Celebrity Cameos

Last night, my friends J-Unit and IndianJones headed into the Valley for the Grand Opening party of The Painted Nail, a nail salon owned by our friend Katie, who many of you may remember from the old days at TVgasm. Of course, The Painted Nail isn’t just any nail salon, and Katie doesn’t throw just any old party. This bash was chock full of beautiful people and quite a decent number of celebrities — enough at least to warrant a red carpet and some paparazzi at the door. And here I thought there’d just be some champagne and few spanikopitas going around on trays. How wrong I was.
Photos of the event as well as a run-down of the celebrities present after the jump…

I knew we’d be in for an exciting evening when we pulled up to the valet stand and the driver of the car in front of us turned out to be Harry Hamlin. WELL THEN. No Lisa Riina was in sight, but as he waltzed right in front of my fender, I realized this was the closest a celebrity had been to my car since this one time when a motorcycle straddling JAMIE FOXX was tailgating me on the Pacific Coast Highway. How did I know it was him? Like I said, he was TAILGATING. Blame it on the alcohol (or lack of proper driving etiquette) I suppose.
Now where was I? Ah yes. Name dropping celebrities. So yes, Harry Hamlin stepped out of the car in front of us, and as he reached the curb, he was accosted by about five men all seeking autographs. The paparazzi immediately swarmed; so I told IndianJones and J-Unit to get out of the car so that they could wind up in the background of the photos as they headed to the front door of the party. They promptly ejected themselves from my vehicle and did just that; although, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see just how successful they were in sneaking into the paps’ shots.

Most of the party took place in the back of the salon where this logo, created by J-Unit himself, was flashed onto a nearby wall.

In a convenient turn of events, a celebrity slipped right into this shot of the partygoers. And which celebrity, might you ask? None other than Michael Copon, a.k.a. The Blue Power Ranger (and participant in But Can They Sing?). That’s him on the lower left with a drink in his hand. Impressive, no?

Inside the nail salon.

Beverage station, etc.

Throngs of people mix and mingle their way through the space.

Outside, a Gibson guitar bus was parked. And why yes, that IS Eric Benet in the lower left hand corner.

J-Unit effectively makes IndianJones look like a midget.

Katie and her boyfriend Walter take the stage to greet their guests.

Toasts all around.

Jackie Tohn, a semifinalist on American Idol this season, takes the stage.

Jackie was actually very good, especially her neat cover of “Beat It.” You’ll just have to imagine how it sounded, sorry.

Here’s me with R&B musician and Celebrity Apprentice castoff Brian McKnight. I don’t think he cared for me.

J-Unit with Walter.

TVgasm reunion: me, J-Unit, Katie, and Andy.

Walter takes the stage with Kenny G. Turns out they’re great friends. Walter, it should be noted, is one of the more prolific music producers out there. He wrote “Hero” by Mariah Carey.

The inevitable B-Side / María Conchita Alonso photo.

Futher chumminess amongst my minority friends.

Kenny G does his thing in the audience. Marla Maples was nearby. I wanted to get a picture, but by the time I got to where she’d been, she had already left. She looked stunningly good. Top notch. I’m sad I don’t have a pic.

After the Kenny G performance, we take a breather on a nearby couch. People watching ensues.

IndianJones spurns his tequila and orange juice, saying it’s simply too strong for consumption.

I taste the cocktail and confirm. It’s ridiculous.

I mean, out of control.

More TVgasm reunion.

Afterwards at the valet stand, the paparazzi continued to hound the celebs — in this case, Harry Hamlin again.

The valet was a clusterfuck as everyone pretty much left all at once. There was some mild concern that the valets had lost both Harry Hamlin AND Eric Benet’s respective vehicles. Luckily, it all worked out for them, but here’s IndianJones rolling his eyes in frustration anyway.

And that was pretty much it. Other celebs in attendance: the fat sidekick from Borat and Jon Kelly from Extra and The Mole. Thanks to Katie and Walter for throwing a super fun party. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check out the Painted Nail and tell them I sent you. It won’t guarantee you anything, but hey, you never know.
UPDATE: WireImage photos from the event here.